2015 was, for me, a high point of my CultureGrrl "career"---the only year when my dogged blogging was generously compensated, thanks to the munificent Art Writers Grant from Creative Capital | Warhol Foundation. This windfall temporarily suspended my internal debate over whether it was time to move on to more sensible activities, like increased mainstream-media work and more … [Read more...] about The Year in CultureGrrl, 2015 Edition
Archives for 2015
Puerto Rican/European: Francisco Oller’s Hybrid Paintings at the Brooklyn Museum
Like the works of Archibald Motley, now featured at the Whitney Museum, the art of Puerto Rican painter Francisco Oller, subject of a concurrent retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum (to Jan. 3), inhabits two separate worlds. More than Motley, Oller often conflated those worlds on the same canvas. Impressionism and the Caribbean: Francisco Oller and His Transatlantic World is … [Read more...] about Puerto Rican/European: Francisco Oller’s Hybrid Paintings at the Brooklyn Museum
Motley & Oller (Part I): Whitney & Brooklyn Museums Embrace Black & Latino Cultural Forebears (with video)
[Part II is here.] Notwithstanding the latest spike of interest in diversifying museums' displays and personnel, the problem of stimulating greater inclusiveness is nothing new: It has been a source of periodic discussion and sporadic action for decades. Now the Whitney Museum and Brooklyn Museum have taken steps to move the needle, by means of felicitously concurrent shows … [Read more...] about Motley & Oller (Part I): Whitney & Brooklyn Museums Embrace Black & Latino Cultural Forebears (with video)
Canon Fodder: Will MoMA’s New Generation of Curators Intercept Barr’s Torpedo? (with video)
If you think that the de-installation of the Museum of Modern Art's fourth-floor permanent collection to make way for Picasso Sculpture was a one-off, think again. That floor's traditional survey of works from 1940 to 1980 is not coming back any time soon. That was one of the revelations at MoMA's press breakfast on Tuesday, where director Glenn Lowry and chief curator of … [Read more...] about Canon Fodder: Will MoMA’s New Generation of Curators Intercept Barr’s Torpedo? (with video)
$3.75m Cash Severance: Patrick McClymont, Sotheby’s CFO, Steps Down Suddenly
In the latest Sotheby's shocker, the auction house has just announced that its chief financial officer, Patrick McClymont, is precipitously stepping down. He will resign, effective Dec. 31, to pursue the proverbial "other opportunities." Looks like it's going to be another costly severance. According to today's 8-K SEC filing: Upon his scheduled departure from the … [Read more...] about $3.75m Cash Severance: Patrick McClymont, Sotheby’s CFO, Steps Down Suddenly
Sotheby’s to Cut Some 80 Positions; Charles Moffett, Its Former Executive VP, Dies
In an amendment filed today to its Nov. 13 8-K filing with the SEC, financially challenged Sotheby's revealed that its planned staff buyouts will result in a net headcount reduction of about 80 staffers. Because of the $40-million cost of the buyouts, which will be charged to the 4th quarter of 2015, it will take a year and a half for the expected savings to compensate for the … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s to Cut Some 80 Positions; Charles Moffett, Its Former Executive VP, Dies
Skorton Meets the Press: Outreach, Public Input, “Trade Secrets” UPDATED
In his cautious comments yesterday during an hour-long appearance at the National Press Club, Washington, David Skorton, the Smithsonian Institution's new secretary, seemed to be guided by his expressed belief that "the first thing in nonprofit leadership is to do no harm...Basically, my first duty is to listen to the people on the ground." He "did no harm" by … [Read more...] about Skorton Meets the Press: Outreach, Public Input, “Trade Secrets” UPDATED
BID’s Skid: Sotheby’s Poaches Christie’s Marc Porter, While Stock Hits a 52-Week Low
Could Marc Porter be the turnaround artist that Sotheby's urgently needs? If so, it may not be soon enough: "Because of a non-compete clause," writes Kelly Crow for the Wall Street Journal, Porter won't assume his new post until 2017. Porter's unexpected defection from Christie's, where he has been chairman since 2009, was reported today by Marion Maneker of Art Market … [Read more...] about BID’s Skid: Sotheby’s Poaches Christie’s Marc Porter, While Stock Hits a 52-Week Low
Picasso at MoMA, Stella at Whitney: One Grand Retrospective Informs Another
The long multifarious careers celebrated in the two felicitously concurrent monumental retrospectives that are now electrifying New York---Picasso Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art and Frank Stella at the Whitney Museum (both closing on Feb. 7)---invite critical comparison, which, to my knowledge, they have not yet received. Both shows cover a roughly 60-year span, but … [Read more...] about Picasso at MoMA, Stella at Whitney: One Grand Retrospective Informs Another
“Mission Accomplished”? Izabela Depczyk Out as Publisher of In-Flux ARTnews
Arriving last week, my December issue of ARTnews magazine included an inserted letter, signed by Izabela Depczyk, publisher and CEO of Artnews S.A., informing subscribers that "ARTnews will be a quarterly publication, publishing four issues a year," beginning this February: Today Artnews S.A. announced that Depczyk has resigned her positions for the usual cryptic … [Read more...] about “Mission Accomplished”? Izabela Depczyk Out as Publisher of In-Flux ARTnews
Scrapping of Maurer Show Revealed As National Academy Finally Announces Director’s Resignation
The National Academy's very belated official statement announcing the resignation of director Carmine Branagan and the appointment of Maura Reilly has just hit my inbox, in the same form that I reported to you last Tuesday. Meanwhile, revelations sent to me by Brian Allen, who directed the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, Andover, MA, for nearly 10 years … [Read more...] about Scrapping of Maurer Show Revealed As National Academy Finally Announces Director’s Resignation
Leaked Release: National Academy’s Feel-Good Statement on Carmine Branagan’s Departure
The chaotic, unprofessional rollout of the National Academy's leadership transition (which I chronicled in the above-linked posts) continues with today's anonymous leak to me of the very overdue, nearly finalized press release, to be issued on Monday (subject to approval by key board members). In it, the Academy's president, Bruce Fowle, expresses the institution's … [Read more...] about Leaked Release: National Academy’s Feel-Good Statement on Carmine Branagan’s Departure
Sugarcoating Gonzalez-Torres’ Candy: Crystal Bridges Updates from NW Arkansas Business Journal & Me
What has Alice Walton's generously endowed startup, which just celebrated its fourth anniversary, been up to lately? In Richard Massey's lead article in today's Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, he reports on upcoming programs and exhibitions at Bentonville's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and briefly touches upon future acquisitions, relying on a quote from me … [Read more...] about Sugarcoating Gonzalez-Torres’ Candy: Crystal Bridges Updates from NW Arkansas Business Journal & Me
Carnage and Kentridge: Metropolitan Opera’s “Lulu,” Then and Now
Enriched by more than four decades of avid museum- and performance-going, I'm both blessed and cursed with having seen so many definitive exhibitions and performances that I'm hard to impress. I was knocked out and drained by the Metropolitan Opera's presentation of Alban Berg's savage "Lulu"---the one in 1980, with the emotionally intense Teresa Stratas in the title role and … [Read more...] about Carnage and Kentridge: Metropolitan Opera’s “Lulu,” Then and Now
Whitney Museum’s Adam Weinberg Movingly Mourns Paris Massacre’s Impact on Creative Community (with video)
Addressing the press on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Museum's director, Tom Campbell, had reacted to the Paris massacre forcefully but formally, detailing how his institution had mentored colleagues from countries in crisis. Yesterday, the Whitney Museum's director, Adam Weinberg, showed how to make it personal and heartfelt. At a press preview of an exhibition … [Read more...] about Whitney Museum’s Adam Weinberg Movingly Mourns Paris Massacre’s Impact on Creative Community (with video)